Previews

Perimeter

Terraforming adds a new twist on this upcoming RTS from Codemasters and 1C.

Spiffy:

Nice-looking RTS with an interesting "nanomorphing" concept that lets units change on the fly.

Iffy:

It's another sci-fi RTS that doesn't change the tried-and-true formula much

There's a saying in the gaming industry: "If it ain't broke, tweak it and make a new game with it." Such could be said of the basic real-time strategy (RTS) mold: gather resources, build units, and assault the enemy. At heart, Perimeter looks like a typical sci-fi RTS, but it offers up a couple of twists.

The setup is out of classic sci-fi: Earth is in trouble and three factions are off to space to find a suitable replacement. Unfortunately, these three factions can't get along and need to compete for the prize. This being the future the player can use machinery to terraform the new planet, molding it to his/her needs and extracting precious natural energy from the planet. This is the only form of resource management, leaving you to design your base and build structures and units.

One of the more interesting aspects to Perimeter is that all of your units are based on nanotechnology that allows them to change on the fly. So, if you have a bunch of guys that you wish were a different bunch of guys, you can combine them and morph them to meet your needs. The only restrictions are having enough energy and having the right kinds of troops to combine. For example, if you send a gang of heavy troopers that break into an enemy base to cause some damage and they get in trouble, you can morph them into flying units to withdraw them quickly.

Based on the level that we got to see at the show, Perimeter looked pretty good. It's a fully 3D game with a movable camera, and the graphics shine even when zoomed way in. This is good, since the developers have promised that you'll be looking at the game over the course of a 27-level single-player campaign. And there's always multiplayer.